The New Curators by Jenni Klaus
We all spend countless hours these days on the internet. Whether it’s for business or pleasure, almost every human being in the Western world now logs on to something, somewhere. The Internet has taken our world into a new age. Not only an age of social media and endless information, of LOLCats and double rainbows. This is the time of the new curators.
One of my favorite things about the natural growth of social networking is how human beings continue to develop and grow their presence and ideas across various websites. I noticed the other day that my Uncle in Texas, who doesn’t really use Facebook the way we young folks do, had started posting nothing but music videos from Youtube on his page. He would do a series on German Folk Artists, then move on to Country Music of the 1960’s and 1970’s and at the moment, he’s into good old Rock n’Roll of the 80’s and 90’s. What I realized was this: my Uncle was curating an online exhibition of music. With just some copy and pasting, he had created entire collections of songs complete with commentary or memories associated with them. Once the idea sprung inside my head, I began to realize that there were many more online curators in my networks.
A friend of mine who is heavily involved with community radio, and a great presenter, started a “Song of the Day” collective on his personal Facebook page. It opened me up to an entire new world of music and artists I would have never discovered otherwise. His research, dedication and pure taste in the tracks he posts are a real treat.
Tons of people have Twitter streams or Digg accounts where they curate links on an huge range of topics. Tumblr is a photo communal. Blogger, and other blog sites, showcase not only people’s online journals and musings, but house digital mini-museums full of great material sourced from all over the web. Myspace boasts various obsessive and eclectic collectors of all ages and backgrounds. Flickr is a constant source of wonder to me, and there are many online collections to peruse. In fact, there are people who use Flickr simply to curate groups of beloved finds. Etsy is a brilliant website where creatives sell handmade goods in their own personal shops and those items are added to collections by staff and users. They even have a link on the side of the page to their Treasury (curated lists).
A journalist I know harbors a somewhat secret obsession with Zooanthropomorphism, a fantasy condition where creatures have human bodies and animal heads. This photo album is stunning and haunting. She’s sourced images from a large range of creatives to build her online exhibition, which constantly grows and changes. I’m always surprised at the appeal it has across the varied list of friends who view it.
I suppose in a way, no matter what we do online, we’re curating our own lives. Facebook is an online cabinet of curiosities, containing bits and pieces of your life including all your friends, family, info, photos, mementos, etc. Add all your other networks to that, and it’s one hell of an exhibition. Make it a good one!
Here are some of my favorite online curators and collections:
Images with impact – www.ffffound.com
Fashion - http://helloworldsaysmimi.blogspot.com/
Important and interesting letters from history - http://www.lettersofnote.com/
Amazing vintage letterheads - http://www.letterheady.com/
A bit of everything from a young, hipster, actor/comedian/writer/rapper - http://www.iamdonald.com/
Impossibly cool - http://theimpossiblecool.tumblr.com/
The Etsy Treasury - http://www.etsy.com/treasury/?ref=fp_nav_treasury
Flickr Galleries - http://www.flickr.com/galleries/
This is a copy of an article I wrote for another site.
No comments:
Post a Comment